It's long been joked that every Star Wars character, no matter how minor, will end up with a name and pages of backstory. And Greedo is a prime example, as this green alien from Star Wars: A New Hope only appears for a minute, and yet has a rich backstory and is commonly known among fans. And so, who exactly was Greedo before he met his end in A New Hope?
Appearing as the bounty hunter who faced Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina, Greedo became famous not for his character but because George Lucas constantly re-edited his confrontation with Han. Originally in the theatrical release, Han shot Greedo before their conversation was over, but Lucas went back and changed it so Greedo fired first and missed before Han's shot. This originated the phrase "Han shot first" in the Star Wars fandom as a way of pointing out how strange the newly-edited scene was. However, there's far more to Greedo than being the "Han shot first" guy.
Greedo's Life During the Clone Wars
Growing up as a Rodian on the planet Tatooine, Greedo appeared briefly as a child during a deleted scene in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, cheering on Sebulba during the pod race. But his jump to bounty hunter started after Attack of the Clones, with a young Greedo featuring in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon. Here, he was employed by the Trade Federation to kidnap royalty and force them to join the Separatists -- which he did with varying success.
But for the most part, Greedo's work came from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt himself. He collected bounties for Jabba from the beginning of the Clone Wars all the way up to A New Hope. Although, Greedo and Jabba's relationship was always on the edge of snapping, as he had failed one too many bounties over the years. The worst one was during a contract to assassinate a member of the banking clan and kidnap his codebreaker partner. While he successfully carried out the assassination, Greedo accidentally led the codebreaker to his death, resulting in him begging Jabba not to feed him to the Rancor.
Han Solo and Greedo's First Encounter
When Han and Greedo sit for their final chat in the Mos Eisley cantina, they speak as if they have a history. And that history was shown in the Han Solo & Chewbacca comics, as Greedo was partnered up with the classic duo to pull off a heist for Jabba. As they attempted to snatch the urn of Jabba's most despised rival, Greedo and Han got into constant arguments and kept backstabbing one another, although they managed to eventually see the job through to the end.
Years after the bounty hunters parted ways, Han's name popped up once more in Jabba's palace. A hefty bounty had been placed on Han for losing some of Jabba's valuable cargo, and Greedo was encouraged by a fellow Rodian friend to try and capture him. A scheme to corner and overwhelm Han was all planned out for his arrival in Mos Eisley, but with Luke and Obi-Wan finding Han first, Greedo's plan changed, and he had to confront Han sooner than he hoped -- resulting in his quick and unceremonious death.
While Greedo's backstory has certainly been fleshed-out since the release of A New Hope, it only showed that he deserved his fate. Greedo chose the life of a bounty hunter from a young age, and unlike Han Solo, there was never any heart of gold deep inside -- only a desperate need for more money by any means necessary.